Traversing gear for guns



March 15 1927. 1,620,851

H. c. ZIIMMERMAN TRAVERSING GEAR FOR GUNS Filed Sept. 11, 1924 gwuntoz v 77 p 26 I admin Patented Mar. 15, 1927. y

HARRY G. ZIMMERMAN, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

TRAVERSING GEAR FOR GUNS.

Application filed. September 11, 1924;. Serial No. 737,175.

(GRANTED UNDER'THE ACT OF MARCH 3, 1883; 22' STAT. I. 625.)

The invention described herein may be used by the Government, or any of its officers or employees in prosecution of work for the Government, or by any other person. in the United States, without payment to me of any royalty thereon, in accordance with the act of March 3, 1883.

The subject of this invention is a traversing gear for guns.

To secure stability in firing, it is necessary that wheeled gun carriages be provided with trails for anchoring the carriage in place. When a single trail is employed the carriage must be turned when traversing the gun so that the trails may be parallel to the gun, each change in position requiring the discharge of an initial round to reseat the trail spade. This condition may be alleviated by the use of a split trail which permits limited change in directing without moving the wheels or reseating the trail. The split trail as employed on heavy artillery constitutes the effect of two single trails and the added weight renders their use undesirable.

The object of the present invention is to provide means for increasing the range of traverse without the necessity of moving the wheels of the gun carriage or reseating the spade. According to the invention, the top carriage, cradle, and gun are all mounted on the trail, a suitable connection between the trail and the curved carriage axle being provided for moving the trall along the axle, the trail describing an arc about its spade as a fixed center. The traversing gear being removed from the cradle will be less subject to the strains of recoil and counterrecoil.

To these and other ends, my invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of elements, described hereinafter and pointed out in the claims forming a part of this specification.

A practical embodiment of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying draw ngs, in which,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a traversing gear constructed in accordance with the mvention' Fig. 2 is a detail plan view partly in section of the traversing gear housing;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of Flg. 1;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view of the operating mechanism; and

of Fig. 1. 7

Referring to the drawings by numerals of reference:

The trail consists of parallel beams 11, rigidly connected intermediate their ends and adapted to be movably supported on an axle 12, which is preferably curved to the desired degree. The trail may be provided With, any suitable device as indicated at "13 for reducing friction as it is moved along the axle. The rear end of the trail contains the usual spade (not shown) preferably pivoted thereto to facilitate turning of the trail.

A housing 14, provided with lateral arms 15 for attachment to the trail beams, is positioned adjacent the axle 12. Within the housing is a pinion 16 in mesh with a rack 17, secured by means of screw bolts 18 to the rear face of the axle. The pinion rotates in unison with a worm wheel 19 to which it is connected by a shaft 20 having a lubricating passage 21.

The housing 14 also supports a shaft 22 on which is a worm 23 in mesh with the worm wheel 19. The shaft 22 projects beyond the housing and is squared as at 24 for direct attachment of a hand wheel or crank. For convenience in operation, however, the shaft may be extended or may be jointed to a supplementary shaft 25 by a sleeve 26 having a close sliding fit on the squared end 23 and removably held in place by a pin 27.

A housing 28 on one of the trail beams serves to support the end of the supplementary shaft 25 and encloses bevel gears 29 on said shaft and on a drive shaft 30 mounted in a bearing in the trail beam. A hand wheel 31 is provided on the driveshaft for manipulating the mechanism.

In operation, when the hand wheel 31 is turned, the pinion 16 will travel along the rack 17 on the axle causing the trail and the gun carried thereby to be moved about the spade as a center. As the spade is seated at a point midway between the wheels and the carriage, the trail will not interfere with the wheels and the range of traverse will be determined only by the length of the axle. Unlike the split t-rail the present trail will always be positioned on the same line as the gun thus tending towards greater stability in firing While permitting a maximum range of traverse,

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 55 \Vhile in the foregoing there has been illustrated and described such combination and arrangement of elements as constitute the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is nevertheless desired to emphasize the fact that interpretation of the invention should only be conclusive when made in the light of the sub'joinedclaims.

I claim: v

1. In a Wheeled gun carriage, the combinationo'f an axle, a trail movably supported thereon, a rack secured to theaxle, ahousingsupported between the'trail members, a pinion in said housing: in mesh with-the rack, a worm wheel in said housingrotatable in unison with the pinion; a Worm shaft supported by the housing: and in mesh with the worm WheeL-means for actuating said shaft, and a locking sleeve connecting said means and shaft.

2. In" a Wheeled gun carriz-rge, the combination of an axle, a trail movahly supported thereon, a rack secured to the axle, a housingsupported'betwecn the trail members, a pinion insaid housing in mesh With the rack, a Worm Wheel in said llOUSiIlg' rotatable in unison with the pin'iomaWornrshaft supported by the housing and in mesh with the WOI'hlWl'iGQl, and means for actuating said shaft. I

3; In a Wheeled gun carriage, a curved I-bea1n-axle ,-a-rack secured thereto, a pair of trail members movahly supported on the axle, housing provided with: lateral arms for attachment to'the trail members, and actuatingr means enclosed-in the housino' for traversing the trailmemhers.

4. In a Wheeled gun c=u-riage,-z-rn axle, a rack secured thereto; a pair of trail members movahly supported outhe axle, a housing provided witlrlateral arms for attachment to the trail members, and actuating nleans enclosed'in the housing for traversing the trail members.

HARRY O. ZIMMERMAN. 

